Rights group urges release of ailing political prisoner

From InterAksyon (Jul 15): Rights group urges release of ailing political prisoner

A human rights group on Monday called for the release of a peasant leader who suffered a stroke at the Manila City Jail, where he has been detained for three years now on charges filed over the discovery of an alleged rebel mass grave in Leyte.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chair of the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto, or SELDA, said Oscar Belleza, 56, of Samar was transferred to the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center only on Monday morning, three days after he was taken to the jail infirmary when he fell unconscious.

Enriquez, in a statement, said Belleza only regained consciousness at the hospital and “can speak a little,” although his “attending doctors suspect possible brain hemorrhage.”

“We demand that Belleza be immediately released on humanitarian grounds. His condition does not give any justification for him to be brought back to jail,” Enriquez said in the statement, adding that the Manila City Jail management should shoulder the medical expenses for the detainee’s hospitalization.

“Poor conditions in the jail, including the inadequate budget allotted for nutrition and healthcare services for prisoners, have aggravated Belleza’s condition,” Enriquez said.
“We cannot tolerate another loss of life. He was a victim of a trumped-up case because he fought for genuine land reform. He should be released before it’s too late,” Enriquez said.

Belleza is a co-accused of former Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo and Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Ma. Sison.

She cited the case of another political prisoner, Crisanto Fat of Negros Occidental, who died in 2011 after constant hospitalization due to a heart ailment.

Fat, a union organizer, was charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, accusations his family maintain were made up by the military.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/66405/rights-group-urges-release-of-ailing-political-prisoner